Description

(Robert Morris) (1734-1806) Financier of the American
Revolution, printed broadside, 8.5" x 13.25", Philadelphia,
March 8, 1792. Entitled "Plan of Association of the Pennsylvania
Population Company." The Pennsylvania Population Company was
established by Robert Morris' associate John Nicholson, a shady
businessman who eventually found himself in debtor's prison
(together with Morris!) due to reckless investments in western
land. Their company was set up primarily to aid Dutch investors
interested in purchasing property in western Pennsylvania. The
document reads in small part: "Whereas the forming settlements on
the Western Boundary of Pennsylvania will establish a barrier to
the frontiers and enable the settlement of the other lands to be
made in safety, and will promote and expedite the population of the
same, and therefore promises of the same, and therefore promises
great public utility; and whereas it is expected such settlements
may be formed by an association so as to reward the undertakers of
so useful a work..." Included on the broadside is the text of an
act by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives specifically
written to allow non-resident aliens the right to hold property in
that state. A similar concern, The Holland Company, was established
to act as a trustee for a group of Dutch investors to purchase
property in western New York -- up to then not allowed to own
property in that state. Over the course of the 1790s, speculation
in these lands would run wild. The only problem? Speculation far
outstripped the actual purchase of lands by settlers -- arriving
much slower than anticipated. Morris and Nicholson could not hold
on long enough for the property to be fully valued. The Dutch
investors, however, had better resources and managed to see an
eventual return on their purchase. They held their lands through
the 1840s when the area had been thickly settled. A fascinating and
scarce document. Light scattered foxing and creases, else very good
condition. From the Henry E. Luhrs Collection. Accompanied by LOA
from PSA/DNA.

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